Forestry and timber - a weighty cluster

Jobs in the sawmill belong to the forestry and timber cluster. Photo: Klausner

Downstream of forestry are the woodworking industry (sawmills, wood-based composites industry), the wood processing industry (eg the furniture industry), wood crafts, paper industry, printing and publishing industry and the the use of wood for energy. The timber trade and the suppliers are also counted to the entire cluster forestry and timber. All in all 1,100,000 people in Germany are employed in the forestry and timber cluster. More people work in this industry as for example in mechanical engineering or in the car industry!

The economic significance of the cluster forestry and timber in rural areas is, however, even higher. Forestry and Forest Service and the industries of the further processing stages generate a significant economic force through their demand for other goods and services in other sectors, especially in rural, underdeveloped regions. Surveys in the Black Forest and in the Sauerland have shown that around 25 percent of all jobs here depend on wood – sustainably.
For more information about the survey “cluster forestry and timber” (pdf in German) please have a look at the Thuenen Institut.

Veranstaltungen